Care Of Brushes

Few housekeepers take proper care of the many brushes which are used for varlous purposes. One reason is that good brushes are expensive and they never buy any but the cheap kinds, for with careless servants it is merely a waste of money not to do so. When brushes become filled with dust and grime their usefulness is soon spoiled. Great care should be taken to cleanse them frequently in ammonia water, never wetting the wood which holds the bristles. They should then be dried in a cool place; never in the sun. The pastry brush, which is made without metal wires to corrode, is familiar, but there are good brushes with bristles all around and a long handle which are excellent for cleaning out jars, deep pitchers and such exasperating articles which must be kept clean in spite of their impossible form. Then there are fine, long hair brushes for washing china; soup brushes for rubbing soup through the strainer, and a variety of floor, window, and furniture brushes. In many houses brushes and brooms do doublé duty. It is no more extravagant and indeed will be cheaper in the end to have a brush or broom for each particular duty and keep it in its place.